The present invention generally resides in the art of drywall benches. More particularly, the present invention relates to a step that attaches to a drywall bench so as to provide an intermediate platform that one may utilize to reach the top platform provided by the bench. The step of the present invention also provides the drywall bench on which it is used with a safety feature that substantially lessens the likelihood that the drywall bench will collapse when supporting a load.
Drywall benches such as those described hereinbelow are commonly employed to aid in the placement of drywall sheets in the ceiling of a room. Referring now to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the common drywall bench is designated generally by the numeral 1. Drywall bench 1 provides an elevated bench platform 2 which is generally of rectangular shape. Folding legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b are pivotally attached (not shown) to the underside of bench platform 2 near the corners thereof. Support rails 6a and 6b are respectively connected between pairs of folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b, beneath opposite ends of bench platform 2. The ends of support rails 6a and 6b extend beyond folding legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b and provide brackets 8 that, as can perhaps be best seen in FIG. 2, retain rollers 10 by means of an associated pin assembly 12. A pair of step rails 14a, 14b receive rollers 10 associated with opposite sides of the bench platform 2 such that step rail 14a connects between folding legs 3a and 4a and step rail 14b connects between folding legs 3b and 4b. Step rails 14a and 14b each provide a track 16 with which rollers 10 communicate so that associated pairs of folding legs 3a, 3b and/or 4a, 4b may be pivoted from an operative position, as shown in FIG. 1, to a storage position (not shown) in which folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b are pivoted inwardly and upwardly towards the underside of bench platform 2. As folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b are pivoted between the operative and storage positions, rollers 10 move along the length of track 16 such that, although step rails 14a, 14b are supported by support rails 6a, 6b and their associated rollers 10, step rails 14a, 14b do not interfere with the movement of support rails 6a, 6b and their associated folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b. 
A pair of locking braces 18a, 18b are provided between bench platform 2 and folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b, respectively, so that associated pairs of folding legs 3a, 3b or 4a, 4b may be locked into the operating position. Unlocking locking brace 18a will allow for the pivotal movement of folding legs 3a, 3b while unlocking locking brace 18b will allow for the pivotal movement of folding legs 4a, 4b. 
Folding legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b receive telescoping legs 20 which serve to adjust the height at which bench platform 2 is maintained. To provide access to a common eight foot ceiling, shorter telescoping legs 20 are employed, while longer telescoping legs 20 are employed to provide access to higher ceilings. Folding legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b provide apertures 22 which allow for the selective height adjustment of telescoping legs 20. Telescoping legs 20 are also provided with apertures (not shown) such that the apertures on telescoping legs 20 may be placed in registration with apertures 22 on folding legs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b and subsequently locked into place by inserting a bolt or pin mechanism (not shown) through the apertures thus aligned. Various other means for securing telescoping legs 20 to folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b are utilized in the common drywall bench, however, the specific disclosure of such securing means is not pertinent to the disclosure of the present invention.
Drywall bench 1 thus provides a bench platform 2, the height of which may be adjusted according to the height of the ceiling to which access is desired. Once drywall bench 1 is set to the desired height, the bench platform 2 is reached by first stepping from the floor to step rail 14a or 14b and subsequently stepping from that step rail 14a, 14b to bench platform 2. However, step rail 14a, 14b is quite narrow and is positioned at a substantial height from the floor, making it very difficult to access bench platform 2 in the manner just described, especially, as is commonly the case, when carrying a large, heavy drywall sheet. The difficulty encountered in accessing step rails 14a, 14b from the floor has caused many persons that work with the common drywall bench 1 to place a bucket or other supplemental step on the floor so that an intermediate step between the floor and one of step rails 14a or 14b is provided.
Providing an intermediate step, such as a bucket, while facilitating access to bench platform 2, creates its own set of problems. First, many devices used as intermediate steps, such as buckets, may provide surfaces that are unsafe to stand upon. They may fail to provide the requisite structural stability, may provide irregularly shaped platforms, or may otherwise be structurally inadequate to serve as a platform to stand upon. Second, these intermediate steps are not in any way attached to the drywall bench 1 and therefore must be properly aligned in relation to the drywall bench 1 whenever the position of the drywall bench 1 is altered. Also, these steps occupy floor space such that they may be tripped over or knocked out of alignment with drywall bench 1 or otherwise present an inconvenience.
Nevertheless, the employment of such intermediate steps has become common practice in the field despite the fact this unsafe practice has caused many personal injuries as well as damage to sheets of drywall, driving up costs and resulting in decreases in productivity. Thus, there exists a need in the art for the addition of an intermediate step to the basic drywall bench that substantially eliminates the problems associated with trying to mount the bench platform.
Other safety concerns are also relevant when considering the design of the drywall benches 1 of the prior art. As mentioned above, folding legs 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b are maintained in the operative position by locking braces 18a, 18b. Thus, if either of the locking braces 18a, 18b is not properly locked or is accidentally contacted so as to occupy an unlocked position, folding legs 3a, 3b and/or 4a, 4b associated with that locking brace 18a and/or 18b will be able to pivot to the storage position. If one tries to mount the bench platform 2 of drywall bench 1 while either of the locking brakes 18a, 18b is in an unlocked position, folding legs 3a, 3b or 4a, 4b associated with the unlocked locking braces 18a or 18b will tend to pivot when weight is applied to step rail 14a or 14b or bench platform 2, and drywall bench 1 will collapse. Obviously, the collapsing of drywall bench 1 is undesirable due to safety concerns. Moreover, an unlocked brace 18a, 186 may allow the bench 10 to simply collapse when being moved, subjecting the user to pinched fingers and hands. It has been found that the provision of a drywall bench step as hereinafter described and claimed, in addition to providing an intermediate step in order to mount the bench platform, also introduces a safety feature into the drywall bench to which it is fitted by substantially eliminating the possibility that the drywall bench will collapse even when both locking braces of the drywall bench are in an unlocked position.
In light of the foregoing, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a drywall bench step that can be fit onto the common drywall bench.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a drywall bench step that is structurally stable so as to be capable of sustaining the heavy loads typically supported by drywall benches.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a drywall bench step that provides a substantially flat surface of substantial size so that one using the drywall bench step is not likely to accidently fall off.
It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a drywall bench step that is simple to set up and tear down.
It is an additional aspect of the present invention to provide a drywall bench step that provides an added safety feature by substantially decreasing the possibility of collapse of the drywall bench.
These and other aspect of the present invention which will become apparent from the description which follows are attained by a bench step for a drywall bench having a bench step for a drywall bench having a bench platform, folding legs pivotally connected to the bench platform, support rails connected between the folding legs and including brackets having rollers rotatably received thereon, step rails receiving the rollers and thereby connecting between the support rails such that the folding legs connected to the support rails may be pivoted between operative and storage positions, the rollers being capable of moving within a track provided by the support legs such that the associated support legs and folding legs remain connected as the folding legs are pivoted, locking braces connected between the bench platform and the support rails to selectively lock the folding legs into the operative position, and telescoping legs selectively received by the folding legs, the step comprising: a support portion adapted to be received by at least a portion of one of the step rails; a spacer portion extending downwardly from said support portion; a step portion extending from said spacer portion such that said step portion lies substantially parallel to the bench platform when the bench step is placed on one of the step rails of the drywall bench.
Other aspects of the invention are attained by the improvement in a drywall bench having a bench platform, folding legs pivotally connected to the bench platform, support rails connected between the folding legs and including brackets having rollers rotatably received thereon, step rails receiving the rollers and thereby connecting between the support rails such that the folding legs connected to the support rails may be pivoted between operative and storage positions, the rollers being capable of moving within a track provided by the support legs such that the associated support legs and folding legs remain connected as the folding legs are pivoted, locking braces connected between the bench platform and the support rails to selectively lock the folding legs into the operative position, and telescoping legs selectively received by the folding legs, the improvement comprising: a support portion adapted to be received by at least a portion of one of the step rails, a spacer portion extending downwardly from said support portion, and step portion extending from said spacer portion such that said step portion lies substantially parallel to the bench platform.
A preferred exemplary drywall bench step incorporating the concepts of the present invention is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings without attempting to show all the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied, the invention being measured by the appended claims and not by the details of the specification.